William Shatner Beaming In For Visual Effects Society’s Career Award

Erik Pedersen
·2 min read
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The Visual Effects Society is boldly going there.

The group will present its 2024 VES Award for Creative Excellence to Star Trek legend William Shatner. The original Captain Kirk will claim his prize at the group’s 22nd annual ceremony February 21 at the Beverly Hilton.

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Bestowed by the VES Board of Directors, the awards recognizes individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to the art and science of the visual effects industry by uniquely and consistently creating compelling and creative imagery in service to story.

Legit recipient.

“William Shatner has been at the centerpoint of compelling stories that use visual effects to enhance unforgettable storytelling for decades, and his work has left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape,” VES Executive Director Nancy Ward said. “With his portrayal of Captain Kirk, Shatner is the originator of one of the most iconic science fiction characters in history and has boldly taken audiences to the final frontier.”

The highlight of Shatner’s 70-year-plus screen career was starring on Star Trek. From 1966-69, he led the diverse crew of the USS Enterprise on its five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations and … you probably know the rest. The NBC series, of course, launched an armada of spinoff shows and three movie franchises — the six-film first of which reunited the original cast.

Since then, Shatner has won two Emmys on seven nominations for playing the eccentric lawyer Denny Crane on both The Practice, which aired from 1997-2004 on ABC, and its 2004-08 spinoff Boston Legal. He also has appeared in scores of other films and TV shows, including star turns in T.J. Hooker (1982-86) and $#*! My Dad Says, and currently is the host and EP of The UnXplained. He also voices Keldor on Netflix’s Masters of the Universe: Revolution.

Outside of Hollywood, he has written 30 books and has been a longtime philanthropist, working with charities and further his passion in equestrian sports.

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